Saturday, April 13, 2013

Procrastination

I'm still procrastinating. I want to wade into the radio programs, newspaper articles, and blog posts that have come out recently about Social Security's Disability programs about as much as I want to experience my first prostate exam.

Before even reading the articles, my Spidey-Sense tells me that I'll find the kernels of a few important and possibly uncomfortable questions amidst a truckload of unconscious prejudice and fuzzy, shifting definitions. I feel like there's something here to talk about, but I just don't trust … well, anybody really … to do it right.

I've finally decided to take the gradual approach, starting with the piece that started it all, I guess … a collaboration between two very good National Public Radio programs, "This American Life" and "Planet Money" … "Unfit For Work: The startling rise of disability in America." I've been an off and on fan of "This American Life" for years, and their usual, non-sensational approach gives me hope that they'll do a decent, fair job of laying out whatever they think the issue is with disability.

So, I invite you to read and listen. I will, too, and be back with some initial comments before moving on to reading what others have had to say in the last couple of weeks.